With resolutions going up and prices coming down, digital cameras have rapidly captured the hearts and minds of consumers. Today, you can find a model to suit every budget and skill level. New models are announced at regular intervals — with better and more extensive features.
Given the ubiquity of digital cameras in our lives, it was no surprise to find that nearly 87 per cent of the respondents to the survey said that they possessed a digital camera for personal use. Very few respondents said that other members of the household used the camera. Nearly 60 per cent of the respondents said that they had been using the digital camera for less than a year — reflecting the greater affordability of these products, and the growing interest in photography.
Trust in camera brands is influenced largely by credibility (40 per cent), followed by satisfaction (22 per cent), loyalty (16 per cent) and ownership (15 per cent). Awareness had a very small role to play in building trust in brands, for this category. Respondents rated Sony and Canon equally trustworthy, followed by Kodak and Nikon. Overall, all the brands score high to very high on the index of trust — indicating that users found them all to be good.
While Kodak had the highest top-of-mind awareness, followed by Sony and Canon, all three brands were about equal in overall awareness amongst the respondent group. Samsung was the only other brand to score high on the awareness front. Even though Kodak had the highest top-of-mind recall, it was not the brand that was purchased most often. Sony and Canon were the brands generally bought by the respondents. Despite the fact that Panasonic registered low awareness as a brand, a number of respondents actually owned Panasonic cameras.
Sony and Canon enjoy a high degree of credibility amongst digital camera users. The cameras from these brands were rated high on quality, style and design, and ease of use. Sony cameras were also noted for their innovative features. Kodak and Nikon cameras were perceived by respondents to be highly durable, and were admired for their quality, style and ease of use. Ratings for Olympus, Samsung and Panasonic were quite close, and users did not find much to differentiate between them. Overall, all the brands were rated from good to very good on credibility factors.
On the satisfaction front, Sony and Canon were equally adept at delighting users, though Sony was perceived to be very slightly lower in overall quality when compared to Canon. Again, Kodak and Nikon ran close, while Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung were clustered together in user opinion. But, when it comes to providing product information, Sony scored over all other brands, as well as in sales support. Availability of a range of models was also rated to be high for both Sony and Canon, with Canon rated slightly higher on the value-for-money front. Panasonic was rated high for quality, though the lack of information about the product was indicated as a shortcoming.
In addition to having satisfied customers, Sony also has loyal ones who will talk positively about the product, recommend it to others, and purchase another one. The other brands which elicited such positive feedback were Canon and Nikon, with users confirming that they would recommend it to others, and repurchase products. While Kodak lagged Nikon, it ranked ahead of the trio of Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung that were rated about the same on the Index of Loyalty.
All respondents said that they were involved in decision-making when it came to digital cameras — with more than three-quarters of them indicating that they were solely responsible for purchase. Fuji and Nikon were reported as the most expensive brands, with users paying upwards of Rs. 17,000 for their purchases. Kodak was the least expensive brand, while Canon and Panasonic are moderately priced (about Rs 12,000). Sony was seen to be a little more expensive than Canon, and as a consequence scored lower on the Index of Ownership. Low price enabled Kodak to lead the Index of Ownership, closely followed by Canon.